Premier League: Fulham v Manchester United half time report
Fulham 0 Manchester United 1
Paul Scholes’ wonder-strike is the difference between Fulham and Manchester United at Craven Cottage.
The first 45 minutes were end to end, and the game could have seen more than one goal.
The first chance of the game came on 10 minutes, when Dimitar Berbatov forced a fine one-handed save from Fulham goalkeeper David Stockdale, who continued to deputise in goal for the absent Mark Schwarzer.
Scholes broke the deadlock a minute later in trademark fashion with a great hit from well outside the box. It was his 150th goal for Manchester United and another gem to add to the collection.
Simon Davies had the opportunity to equalise moments after, clipping the ball over the bar after making good work of a difficult chance.
Javier Hernández, in for the injured Wayne Rooney, had a left-footed shot which scrambled wide after 15 minutes following great passing and movement from Manchester United.
Berbatov once again tested Stockdale when he was put in by Hernández, but the keeper was able to parry for a corner kick.
Fulham’s Bobby Zamora had his first sight of goal, just heading wide from Paul Konchesky’s cross on 23 minutes.
Fulham captain Danny Murphy fired high over the bar on 25 minutes, much to the delight of the away fans, with Manchester United goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar untroubled.
Another chance fell to Berbatov, but he couldn’t control his header from close-range.
Fulham should have been level on 30 minutes, as Dickson Etuhu got onto the end of a wonderful move. He failed to score with his first effort, which was palmed back into his path by Van der Sar, but he couldn’t score at the second attempt as Van der Sar tipped the ball over the bar when he was on the ground.
Clint Dempsey had a shot from outside the penalty area a couple of minutes before half time, but Fulham will take some encouragement from their performance so far since going a goal down.
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